Jason Smith retires, everyone's happy

I don't have much time for this post, so I'll put it in point form:

1. Everyone loves Jason Smith, his toothless smile brings joy to children's hearts
2. As soon as he signed that contract last summer, he was overpaid
3. He didn't do great things as an overpaid player and sat out many games (benched)
   
4. Bryan Murray was never too worried about being over the cap for the upcoming season, now we know why. This must have been coming down the tubes for months.
5. The Senators' overcrowded defensive corps becomes a little less crowded, and much younger. Maybe too young.

...and we finally know what Pascal Leclaire's mask will look like. No Darth Leclaire this season (thank God).

Is Dany Heatley traded yet?

No.

Edit: Everyone's got to stop acting like the $4-million bucks is coming out of the fans' pockets. It's not, so just chill out about this self-imposed deadline. Melnyk's pocketbook is the least of my worries, and I bet it's the least of his worries too.

Despite my previous defence of Mr. Heatley, I must say that this Oilers saga has certainly revealed the devil in the details. What sort of guy asks to be traded and then... refuses to be traded? That's the most anger you'll get out of me.

In any case, we can glean some insight into Bryan Murray's opinion of his own team from this almost-deal what would have landed the Sens Dustin Penner, Ladislav Smid, and Andrew Cogliano:

#1: He doesn't think too highly of his offence overall. Secondary scoring has been a problem for the Sens for a number of years, and obviously Murray has learned not to count on Mike Fisher, Chris Kelly, or uh.... (searching through Senators roster for goal-scorer not named Spezza or Alfredsson...) Nick Foligno (?!). Even Dustin Penner's albatross of a contract seemed like an acceptable compromise to add about 35-40 goals (Penner's 17 from last year and Cogliano's 18) to the Senators roster.

#2: The Senators are getting too old and slow. The players that would have come from the Oilers are 23 (Smid), 26 (Penner), and 22 (Cogliano). No doubt an attempt to inject some new blood into the organization after a couple years where Murray attempted to transplant some bullshit Pierre McGuire-esque "intangibles" to the team like "toughness", "grit", and "leadership". The Sens have been sacrificing youth and talent for big, stupid bodies for too long, and I believe this was an attempt to reverse a failed policy.

With the above in mind, I cannot imagine why the Sens decided to re-sign Chris Neil. I understand that he's the only player on the team that drops the gloves on a regular basis, but with Jason Smith still on the roster (and awaiting buy-out, I presume), the Sens have more than enough penalty minutes-in-waiting. Much like Smith following last season, before the end of the first year of his new contract, Neil will be on the trade block.

PS: How was Canada Day for everyone? Jeez, I wish they would get a rock band to play on Parliament Hill. Sarah McLaughlin? She hasn't been on the radio in 10 years! Bah!

Sens are a tougher team

I'll make this short and sweet...

Chris Neil was a commodity (and an oddity) on the Sens when they were known as a push-over team. Bryan Murray, apparently at the expense of wins, acquired a few players over the past couple of years that were meant to fill in the toughness gap. Namely: Jason Smith and Jarkko Ruutu.

Doesn't that make Neil expendable?

Ironically, the Senators will face the Leafs tonight; the team that was always seen as ruthless during the Jacques Martin years. It's hard to say if the Sens enforcers will be a factor in this battle for the basement of the Eastern Conference.

If I should fall behind: Habs 5, Sens 3

The Senators had every reason to come out strong on Saturday afternoon. Ever-decreasing opportunities to make up ground in a playoff race. A chance to make up two points on a team that the Senators' would likely have to bypass. Their captain, Daniel Alfredsson, making a heroic return from a broken jaw. But it was all for nothing, and the Canadiens' Alex Kovalev--also returning to the lineup, but for an altogether different reason than Alfie--took over the game in the first, getting three points on four goals in the game's first 27 minutes.

The Habs came out strong in the first, and it didn't help that the Sens gave them three powerplay opportunities in that period--and Montreal capitalized on two of 'em, with goals from Tomas Plekanec and Mathieu Schneider. Their even-strength goal came from Kovalev, off a turnover from Chris Kelly, weak coverage by Chris Phillips, and poor positioning on the part of Brian Elliott. Ells was pulled after the third goal in favour of Alex Auld.

Shean Donovan tried to get his team going with a fight early in the second, but it didn't quite have the desired effect. On their fourth powerplay, Patrice Brisebois scored to put the Habs up 4-0. It would turn out to be the game-winning goal.

Jarkko Ruutu scored a minute after Brisebois, and a couple minutes after that Dany Heatley scored his first of the game--it looked like the Senators may have been on their way back into the game. But Mathieu Dandenault scored off a juicy Auld rebound late in the second, and not even another Heatley goal in the third could get the Sens back into it.

Special teams were the story. Montreal's powerplay went 3-for-4, and their penalty kill was 6-for-7. That, in the end, did the Senators in on the night. Ottawa outshot the Canadiens 47-32, including a game-high seven from Heatley as well as five from each of Filip Kuba and the recently-reacquired Mike Comrie, but Jaroslav Halak was up to the task for the Canadiens. As good as Kovalev was, Halak was the Habs' best player on the night.

Another disturbing stat? Ottawa had 16 giveaways (Jason Smith had a team-high four of them), and only five takeaways. Tough to balance those numbers.

The good news for the Senators is that both Comrie and Chris Campoli played very well in their debuts. Campoli, obviously, had the more notable first game with a couple of assists, and he was one of only four Senators on the plus side of the ledger (only Heatley, Alfredsson, and Jason Spezza were also pluses). But Comrie played with plenty of intensity and made some chances, and looked pretty good as well.

Ottawa's got two more shots at the Canadiens this season. Although the nails are about as close to hammered into Ottawa's coffin as they can be right now, it would be nice to play spoiler a little bit more.

All The Way Home: Avs 3, Sens 2 (OT)

Wow. The Senators had 15 points on the road in their first 25 road games, but got nine on this five-game road trip. Says a lot about how this team's been playing of late, and for anyone to get 90 per cent of points available on such a disjointed road trip has to come (all the way) home feeling pretty darn good about their trip.

Ryan Shannon made this game for the Sens. He scored the Sens' two goals, one on a sneaky shot and the other a top-corner wrister from the point. He looks a little unusual playing the point on the powerplay, but it worked tonight. Shannon didn't make much of an impact in his first stint, but his recent seven-game stint under Cory Clouston has re-energized his line with Mike Fisher and Nick Foligno, and his speed is lethal.

In nets, Alex Auld made some big saves tonight, and was one of the main reasons the Sens walked out of the game with even one point. He stopped 24 of 27, including one terrific chance Ryan Smyth had in alone after a lucky home-ice bounce off the back boards.

For obvious reasons, ice time was pretty evenly distributed amongst the players tonight. It's a pretty important coaching tactic when playing the second game of a back-to-back, particularly in the mile-high city of Denver. No one had less ice time than Jesse Winchester's 10:52 (and he still had three shots), and Mike Fisher led the forwards with 18:28 on the night.

Could Dany Heatley and Jason Spezza have been more invisible on the night? Apparently Heatley had three shots, but they couldn't have been very good scoring chances, and the only moments I noticed Spezza were when he looked for an open pass with futility, eventually to lose the puck to an Avalanche player--such as what happened on Colorado's second goal, when Spezza lost the puck and then offered absolutely no defensive coverage when backchecking. They had one shift with any semblance of intensity, and that was with five minutes left in the third; and it didn't even generate a shot on net, as Heatley sent his one chance wide. But then Spezza's inability to get the puck in deep and severely lacking defensive coverage were the chief reasons for Wojtek Wolski's overtime winner. Need more offence than that from these guys, especially in such a difficult game.

In his 1,000th career NHL game, Jason Smith played an effective game. He had 18:11 of ice time, usually with Alex Picard, and he bailed out his younger defence partner a couple of times. And he even had a couple shots on net. As for Picard, I`ll give the guy a break because it was his first game in quite a while, but he didn`t look very good on the whole.

Got to laugh about Chris Kelly's continued offensive drought. The guy doesn't have a goal in 13 games including the Colorado game, and only has six on the year. He had Ottawa's best chance to go up 3-2 with about 80 seconds left in the third, but his clean shot from the slot went high and wide. Coupled with his empty-net post-clanger last night against Nashville, the guy's got to be damn frustrated.

So now it`s back home for a game against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Should be a good game, as both teams are pretty hot right now.

The Rising: Sens 2, Preds 0

Hey Alex Auld is back! The Alex Auld that helped Ottawa string together some points in late November and early December of 2008. As effective as the Sens' up-tempo forecheck was tonight, we would have seen a completely different result if Auld didn't play as well as he could. Auld faced some bona fide scoring chances from the Predators, and was right up to task. I don't want to say he stole the game, but he was definitely accessory to the crime. He got his shutout (despite TSN's Gord Miller's best attempts to jinx his goose egg), and the Sens walked out of Nashville with two more points on their fifth consecutive win.

The suddenly sizzling Nick Foligno scored the game-winning goal off a great read and great pass from Mike Fisher (and a terrible giveaway by Preds goaltender Pekka Rinne). Since Cory Clouston took over as head coach, Foligno's been given a greater role, and has responded very well: He has five points (4G, 1A) in the seven games under Clouston, compared to 13 (6G, 7A) in the previous 48 games. This is the Nick Foligno who I signed to a lifetime contract in NHL2K9, and who Sens brass (and fans) want to see every night.

Dany Heatley has similarly stepped up his game of late, and he scored the Sens' second goal with a snipe-job in tight short side off a clean pass from Jason Spezza. He also had seven shots on the night, and had a half-decent open-ice hit early in the game. Heater's got four goals and five points in the last three games since being 'encouraged' (or gently called out) by Clouston. Nice to see the assistant captain step up and show some leadership-by-example as the Senators continue to put together a last-ditch playoff push.

Something of note that was brought up in TSN's commentary was the body language of the Senators, on the ice and on the bench. Obviously the increased intensity on the ice is well-known, but shots of the bench showed a confident group that appeared to have plenty of respect for one another, and good communication. It was in heavy contrast to the Nashville bench about half-way through the game, which was panned across by the camera and appeared completely silent with no one looking at each other, let alone talking to each other. The Sens look like a group that's maybe having fun playing the game again, which they haven't looked like for quite a while.

Penalty killers have to be given credit once again. They killed off all four fairly effectively, although Auld had a big hand in that. Antoine Vermette had a great chance short-handed when he snapped a shot at Rinne and almost tucked the rebound in, and Fisher had a short-handed breakaway in the second but got robbed by a great glove save by Rinne. One notably intimidating penalty-killing defensive pairing was Anton Volchenkov and Jason Smith; needless to say, the Predators didn't get a shot on goal during the time those two were on the ice.

On Nashville's side of the ice, Jordin Tootoo was a freakin' monster tonight. He had a game-high five hits, including a couple devastating ones, and even got or made a few good scoring chances. I didn't like seeing him head-hunting, but he does one hell of a good job within his role, and even adds in some offensive flair to boot.

Can I ask that we stop ragging Fisher about Carrie Underwood? Enough with the questions. Enough with the 'investigative reporting' of Underwood being at Spezza's Christmas party. Enough with the camera shots of her trying to hide from cameras at the hockey game. Let's just be happy for two seemingly nice people who've become friends. They obviously don't want to talk about it, so fuck off already.

Prove it all night: Sens 3, Sabres 1

Despite the best efforts of referees Chris Ciamaga and Kerry Fraser, and the somewhat less-than-best efforts of the Buffalo Sabres, the Senators walked into Buffalo feeling pretty good and walked out feeling even better, and two points richer. The game was a necessary sixty-minute effort, and almost to a man the Senators brought their best.

Alright, let's start with special teams. Penalty-killing. Although several of the penalty calls were on the chintzy side, most of them were justifiable. One that wasn't, though, was the triple-minor assessed to Jason Smith, which Fraser complemented with a ten-minute misconduct after Smith told him how he felt about it. For those of you who didnt' see the incident, it began when Patrick Kaleta took a run at captain Daniel Alfredsson. Then Smith stepped up to run Kaleta through the boards, but held back when he saw Kaleta was in a vulnerable position. So he held back, told Kaleta to watch his ass, and the Kaleta challenged Smith and they went at it. Out of it all, Smith got three roughing penalties, and Kaleta got nothing. It boggles the mind, but I guess Fraser thought he'd seen something that wasn't there. Anyway, the Sens penalty killing--even without Smith for almost half the game--was impeccable, killing 17 of 18 short-handed situations, and only allowing the one powerplay goal on a 5-on-3. It was an impressive showing, particularly for Antoine Vermette, Chris Kelly, and Anton Volchenkov (but also for the rest of the PK team, including Alfredsson, Mike Fisher, Dean McAmmond, Jarkko Ruutu, Chris Phillips, Filip Kuba, and even Brian Lee once in a while).

On the powerplay, Ottawa was a very impressive 2-for-6, and I'll give a lot of credit for that to Brendan Bell. Although he can be a liability at even-strength, Bell's ability to control the puck at the point and thread passes through openings directly resulted in the first goal, which banked off Jason Spezza's skate, and Bell got another assist on Alfredsson's powerplay goal, as well. He's earned his spot on the Sens' third d-pairing, even if that means Alex Picard sits out a few more games.

Speaking of Spezza, he had a great game. He was competing and skating hard, and driving to the net--as evidenced by the Sens' first goal. He had four shots, second on the team only to Alfredsson (who had five) and one takeaway. His pressure, though, undoubtedly helped cause several other Buffalo giveaways, as did the Senators' aggressive forecheck all night. Spezza looks like he really appreciates the system that new coach Cory Clouston is trying to implement, and it sure is impressive to see.

A lot of credit for tonight has to go to Ruutu, who--on top of his disciplined and effective penalty-killing--was at his most super-pestiest tonight. He, Alfredsson, and Nick Foligno each bowled over Ryan Miller at some point, and Ruutu's screen was quintessential in giving Shean Donovan something to shoot at for Ottawa's second goal of the game. He was jawing at the Buffalo bench all night, and that might have had something to do with their apparent disinterest in competing in the game.

On the Dany Heatley front, I don't want to overstate anything, but he only had 12:44 in ice time, by far a season-low. It certainly had something to do with all the penalty-killing time, but both Spezza and Foligno had negligible PK time but more ice time than Heatley. More concerning was that in his 12 minutes of ice time, Heatley had zero shots--a huge faux-pas for a shooter who is expected to lead the second powerplay unit. He and his coach can say they're on the same page, but Heatley's going to have to show it on the ice if we're going to believe it.

I've also got to give Lee credit for his work short-handed. He had 5:17 in PK time on the night, and twice drew Buffalo penalties to negate their powerplays. He kind of looks like Bambi on ice when he's out there, wide-eyed and light on his feet, but his play is effective and he makes it obvious when an opposition player gives him a shot in the back in front of the net.

Most of all, though, Brian Elliott. A huge part of any penalty kill is going to be your goaltending, and--despite what analyst Pierre McGuire thinks--Elliott was terrific in stopping initial shots and limiting his rebounds to a minimum. He ended up stopping 31 of 32 shots in all, and his play at the start of the game likely frustrated the Sabres until they lost interest. And when Buffalo regained interest in the third period, Elliott was solid. I don't want to jinx anything, but he is--amazingly--perfect on the road, and has four of Ottawa's seven road wins this year. Very strange, but also awesome.

Prove it all night. There's nothing else we can do.

Smith in, Picard out

After being benched last game, defenceman Jason Smith will draw back into the lineup tonight against St. Louis while Alex Picard will be the odd man out, according to the Ottawa Sun. Sitting Smith didn't make the team any better last game, so we'll see tonight if bringing him back in will bring about a better effort from the team.


In the story, Picard said he wasn't surprised by the decision. I'm not particularly surprised, either, although the timing seems strange after Picard scored the Sens' only goal last night. Looks like the audition of Brendan Bell and Brian Lee continues for the time being, but I expect one of them to be reassigned to Binghamton somewhat soon--perhaps after this mini-road trip.


Apparently there were concerns with Dean McAmmond not having practiced with the team, but the same Sun story said that Christoph Schubert will be scratched once again, meaning McAmmond and rookie Peter Regin will still be in the lineup. I'd like to see the line of Mike Fisher, Nick Foligno, and Chris Neil reunited, and put Regin with McAmmond and Jarkko Ruutu. It matches one line of size and another line of speed, and they'd do well with roughly equal ice time on the night.

Schubert and Smith scratched against New Jersey

According to the Ottawa Sun, both Jason Smith and Christoph Schubert are going to sit out tonight's game in favour of younger, more offensively-minded teammates. With tonight's game coming against the young and speedy New Jersey Devils, it looks like coach Craig Hartsburg is trying to fight fire with fire.

Although Schubert is probably used to the whole benching thing, Smith was visibly disappointed, the story said:

"Obviously surprised and disappointed," said Smith, who was clearly frustrated after today's morning skate. "You become a player in this game to play games and to help a team have success."

With Android Volchenkov returning to the lineup, Smith was benched in favour of (relative) youngsters Alex Picard, Brian Lee, and Brendan Bell, all of whom have significantly more offensive upside than the wily veteran. Hartsburg's mentality, the story said, was that the d-corps needed to balance the defensive defencemen (Chris Phillips, Volchenkov, and to an extent Filip Kuba) with the more offensive ones. (Can I take a moment to gloat about predicting there could be a reasonable chance Smith would sit out yesterday? Kthanx.)

Although Smith is justified in his frustration, at least he knows he won't be missing too much time. At $2.6M, he's making too much money to sit on the sidelines for an extended period, and the Senators will have to decide soon which of Bell or Lee will be sent back down to Binghamton. The B-Sens need as much defensive help as they can get to keep their playoff hopes in good standing. (In other news, Martin Gerber will be assigned to Binghamton to [hopefully] help out their goaltending situation. Good luck to him; honestly, I wish him the best.)

Schubert, on the other hand, has little reassurance. The Senators went out of their way to re-call Peter Regin from Binghamton today, which is why Schubert is sitting. He is, once again, left to wonder not only about his place on this team, but his place in the league in general. Schubert definitely has a lot to think about in this off-season, and a lot to discuss with GM Bryan Murray (if he's not talking to him already). (I'll also note that I correctly predicted Schubert would be the odd man out with Regin called up, thank you very much.)

Here's my next prediction: Regin won't be up here for too long unless the Sens make a trade (involving a forward) soon, and one of Lee or Bell (likely Bell, as unfair as it may be) will be assigned to Binghamton after tonight's game/test or within the week.

Volchenkov's back, and the defence shuffle

Reports abound that Android Volchenkov's shoulder malfunction has been resolved, so he should be back in the Sens lineup on Tuesday against the Devils after missing Ottawa's last eight games.

As a result, there's a bit of a log jam at defence: You can be sure that Volchenkov won't be a healthy scratch, and Chris Phillips and Filip Kuba will both definitely be in the lineup. As Shean Donovan's skills competition-induced injury will likely keep him out for the whole week, Christoph Schubert is expected to suit up as a forward, meaning that one of Brian Lee, Alex Picard, Jason Smith, or Brendan Bell will be a healthy scratch for the game.

It seems doubtful that Lee will be, as he was practicing today in his regular pairing with Phillips, and the two have been playing well together. A good point was raised by Jason York on the Team 1200 this afternoon: Since the quality of Lee's competition has gone up, so has his play and his consistency. With him playing so well, and such high expectations for his development, it would likely be a step backward to bench him or send him to Binghamton right now.

The most likely candidate to be scratched, at first glance, is Bell. He's been scratched a few times recently, including three of the last four games. However, Bell scored the game-winning goal against Washington a week ago, and has three goals in his last five games played (two on the powerplay). With the Senators looking for mobility and offence from the back end, Bell could continue to be a pretty good second-powerplay-unit defenceman.

Then there's Picard. He's had an up-and-down season, but he's still leading Senators defencemen in goals scored with five. He hasn't scored a goal in 11 games, though, and doesn't even have a point in nine. All despite an average ice time of around 17-19 minutes played, usually including some powerplay time. It's an easy time to send a message to Picard that more is expected of him, but benching him is not a long-term solution: He's on a one-way contract, unlike Lee or Bell.

Finally, the possibility exists of Smith riding the press-box-pine for a night. Although it's pretty bad that he's only got one point (albeit a game-winning goal) on the year, that's not the chief reason he could be benched, and it's not why he was signed. Scratching Smith would be a tactical decision based on the speed of the Senators' opponents Tuesday, the Devils, and Smith's difficulty in keeping up with smaller, speedier players. Again, Smith wasn't signed to his contract to blow anyone out of the water; all he's got to do is play smart, positional hockey, lay a hit when it's available, kill a penalty when it's necessary, and speak up to or for his teammates. Scratching him wouldn't be a long-term solution, because a dog as old as Smith won't likely learn new tricks.

Ideally, I think that Picard could use a rest in the press box for one night or so, until the Sens decide whether to send Bell or Lee down to Binghamton. In the end, though, one of those two guys on two-way contracts will be don in Binghamton relatively soon. The Senators' don't need to be spending more money than they need to be spending at this point in the season.

Surviving the second: Sens 3, Caps 2

On the post-game show, Dean Brown suggested that the Sens' biggest challenge over the last few games has been surviving their own play in the second period. Again tonight, they had dominant first and third periods, but bombed in the second. If not for Brian Elliott stopping 17 of 19 shots in that second period, including plenty of decent scoring chances, this game would have been all Capitals.

But Elliott was there. And Dany Heatley's two first-period powerplay goals were enough to give the Senators the lead they needed to stay in the game until Brendan Bell could score another powerplay goal to give the Sens the win over Washington, 3-2. Ottawa's powerplay was a very impressive 3-6 on the night.

On the night, Heatley played like the superstar he's paid to play like. His 'demotion' (although I shudder to call it that) to the second powerplay unit has given the Senators two powerful units, and as a matter of fact, Heatley's line--with Antoine Vermette and (tonight) Nick Foligno (it had been Chris Neil in previous games, but he was out with the flu)--was and has been more dangerous than the first unit of Mike Fisher, Jason Spezza, and Daniel Alfredsson. Heatley's first goal was a pretty passing play, with Vermette dishing the puck through a few opposition players to Filip Kuba at the point, who set Heatley up perfectly. The second was a bit of luck, as it bounced off a Capitals defender, but they all count--and, don't look now, but with four goals in the last two games, Heatley has 23 on the year and is on pace for almost 42 on the season.

Vermette looked solid on the night, as well; he's one of the Senators who has gone back to what had worked for him in the past, and--surprise!--it's working for him again. He assisted on all three goals, and had a couple shots and a couple of takeaways, to boot. On the topic of streaks, Vermette has ten points (2G, 8A) in the last ten games, the same number of points he had in the first 35 games of the season. It's nice to see, as a fan of the team that's now finding ways to win and after watching him work so hard to start the year without much in the way of results.

Bell scored the winner on the powerplay with less than two minutes remaining, and it was a huge goal. Somehow, Bell's already got a goal song ("Ring My Bell" by Anita Ward), despite only having four goals on the season; I guess that's cool. He had four shots on the night, as well, but was often caught in the defensive zone with partner Jason Smith, unable to clear the puck cleanly. It didn't cost the Sens on the scoreboard, but it was still pretty unnerving to watch.

With Anton Volchenkov suffering a shoulder malfunction, Kuba was given the unenviable assignment of containing Alexander Ovechkin. It seemed like a pretty risky decision by coach Craig Hartsburg, but Kuba's mobility and reach were enough to contain AO as much as AO can be contained, as only two of Ovie's six shots were even-strength opportunities. Kuba, as mentioned, also had an assist, three shots on net, and three blocked shots, and was once again a very solid powerplay quarterback.

I'm pretty sure I've realized why Christoph Schubert doesn't like playing forward: Tonight, with Schubert starting as a forward, he only played 6:14; that includes 1:15 of penalty-killing time as a defenceman, which means Schubert played less than five minutes as a forward. In those five minutes, though, he played effectively as a forward; his line with Dean McAmmond and Jarkko Ruutu was a lot of fun to watch for those five minutes. He can take more than five minutes as a forward, but hopefully he'll deal with it, because he's always fun to watch out there bangin' bodies on forward.

I've also got to mention Peter Regin, who looked surprisingly comfortable in his first NHL game. Of all the Senators prospects who have played their first NHL games in the past couple of seasons (Foligno, Cody Bass, Jesse Winchester, Ilya Zubov, Alex Nikulin, Brian Lee, and probably others I'm forgetting), I'd say Regin was the most effective and the most comfortable in the first game--with the exception of Elliott in his first game last season (but goaltenders always seem the exception). He was a little light on is skates, but he played over 10 minutes, had one takeaway and one blocked shot, and just buzzed in the offensive zone. He warrants another opportunity, if not next game then in the near future.

With the All-Star Game in Montréal on Sunday, Jan. 25, the Sens have the week off, and don't play again until next Tuesday when they host the New Jersey Devils. It will be a break for every Senator except Heatley, who has looked like an All-Star in the recent half-dozen games. Although the timing of the break is not optimal, hopefully Ottawa can carry the momentum of seven of a possible eight points in the last four games into the post-All-Star season.

Now, to write a letter to Richard Peverley of the Atlanta Thrashers, newest hero of the No Habs No! Campaign...

Preview: Sens v. Caps, Jan. 20, 2009

Washington Capitals: 2nd in the Eastern Conference (47GP, 30W, 14L, 3OTL, 63GP 151GF 135GA)
Ottawa Senators: 13th in the Eastern Conference 43GP, 15W, 21L, 7OTL, 37P, 105GF, 127GA

According to the Senators website, Peter Regin has been recalled from the Binghamton Senators to make his NHL debut tonight against the Washington Capitals. The Danish-born centre was just signed to an entry-level deal with the club in June of 2008, and has done pretty well in his first North American pro season despite injury setbacks: 29GP, 8G, 12A, 20P, +8.

And, according to the Ottawa Sun, Jason Smith is doubtful for the game tonight against the Capitals with a lower-body injury. Should he miss it, it seems likely that Brendan Bell will step into his roster spot.

We all know what the Capitals bring to the table. Alex Ovechkin, Alex Semin, Niklas Backstrom, Matt Mike Green, and all the rest. It should be an exciting game.

Isotopes win a game!

Somebody must have photoshopped this together. Or the Senators recently acquired someone named "Termette" or "Shermette". That's a puck in the back of the net. And that's what appears to be Antoine Vermette celebrating. Couldn't be!

Whomever #20 on the Sens roster is these days, he or she helped Ottawa pull out a 5-4 OT win over the Dallas Stars.

Don Cherry says that the team is bonding after this win and will 'turn it right around'. It's Cherry. I'm cynical. But here's hoping. The celebration after the win seemed like a joyous relief to the players. The guys have certainly got the beatdown from the media and fans, and maybe this Christmas miracle could lead somewhere good.

The game was not on TV, but refreshing NHL.com every few minutes was absolutely riveting.

Jason Smith scored his first point of the season (what?!?!) with the overtime goal.

Daniel Alfredsson was hit akwardly and little information has been released yet online about the possible injury. (update: After the game, Alfie said he doesn't believe the injury is too serious and he said he would likely be 'day-to-day'. What a guy! Even does his own diagnosis!)

Martin Gerber picked up the win, but without watching the game, it's difficult to say what variety of Gerbs showed up for the game. I'm waiting for the tsn summary. Auld allowed five goals against the Devils and didn't start the next game. Gerber allows four tonight, but picks up the win. Who will start on Tuesday against Philadelphia? Has Auld #1 status evaporated in the recent confusion?

Necessary win: Sens 2, Lightning 0

One thing is for sure: I shouldn't be this relieved after a 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. At least I don't think I should have, but it seems like this team may not be as good as I--and so many other fans--like to believe they are.

I'll use one sentence to describe Martin Gerber in the game, and you can extrapolate that to represent the way the whole team played: It wasn't pretty, but it worked. Gerber may not have been as deserving as Alex Auld for the team's first shutout of the season (Auld should have had it in game two), but he earned it on the night in stopping all 24 shots from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

I've got a very strange feeling after this game. I'm not sure who was the best Ottawa Senators player on the night. Daniel Alfredsson had a great game (he scored the empty-netter), but it wasn't anything we haven't come to expect from him. Chris Phillips and Filip Kuba both played well on defence, and Jason Smith was solid in clearing the front of the net. I guess I'll follow CBC's lead, though, and give the first star to Gerber.

Dany Heatley definitely did not have his best game, or anywhere near it. I don't usually rag on stars because it's so cliché, but he looked bad. A lot of it likely has to do with his style, and it's inability to blend with the style this lesser-skilled Senators squad has to play: Heatley can't play a puck-retrieval game. It doesn't help that he's rarely skating full-out and always seems to have his stick 18 inches off the ice, cocked and ready to go, but some nights he forechecks hard and steals pucks. Tonight wasn't one of those nights.

Good on the second power-play unit scoring the eventual game-winner, with some nice passing from Antoine Vermette to Nick Foligno to Ilya Zubov to Brendan Bell to Alex Picard to mesh. It was like high school gym class or intramurals, where everyone had to touch the puck before you could take a shot on net. Great shot by Picard, that likely deflected off a Lightning defender, and was Zubov's first NHL point. (Although it meant Cody Bass was pulled out of the lineup, it was nice to see Zubov and it sounds like he's going to get a few games to showcase his skills.) It's too bad the first powerplay unit barely got a sniff offensively, though, because going 1-for-8 against Tampa Bay on the powerplay--no matter how well Bolts' tender Mike Smith plays--is not good enough.

And, part of the powerplay problems, Jason Spezza has to start shooting the puck, he looks afraid to at times. There was one time when he was in past the defenders (just barely, granted, but still), and he held up to wait for someone to pass to. Just because playmaking is his specialty doesn't mean it's got exclusivity on everytime he touches the puck. He finished the night with a single shot on net.

Zubov had a solid game on the whole, and Brian Lee played... well enough. It looked like he'd rediscovered that poise he had at the end of last year early on in the game, but a few defensive gaffes in the third period didn't make his case. He might stick around anyway, but I think he's more likely to head back to Bingo once Anton Volchenkov is ready to go. He wasn't a liability, but he certainly didn't outplay any of the Sens' other five defenders.

What does Craig Hartsburg do with goaltending for next game, on Tuesday against Atlanta? I think Auld has played well enough to keep the starter's reins, for now, and Hartsburg has handled the goaltending situation much better than John Paddock did last season. With two solid games in a row, though, Gerber is making himself a case if Auld falters. But please, don't falter, Auld. We all know what The Gerber Effect does to Darth once he's given something to lose.

Final note: Good to hear that Martin St-Louis only had eight stitches after the linesman's skate clipped him in the face. It looked like it might have caught him in the eye, but apparently it went along the bridge of his nose or something. Maybe he should think about wearing a visor, no matter what Don Cherry might say about him.

The Rumour Mill: Who should Bryan Murray try to trade?

You may notice a new poll in our left sidebar featuring a very simple question: Who should Bryan Murray try to trade? On a team that has only scored four goals during a four-game losing streak there is no shortage of candidates, but the names we've listed are some of the front-runners. If you've got your own ideas of who should be on their way out, post the name (and some reasoning, if you're so inclined) in the 'comments' section. Without further adieu, here is a breakdown of what we think are the leading candidates, in no particular order, with their contract status in terms of cap hit (including this season).

1. Christoph Schubert, D/W, two years at $0.9M
   Schubert wsan't happy going into this season at the prospect of playing another year of forward instead of his natural position at defence. In training camp he was given every opportunity to prove he could do it, but didn't prove it to anyone. It wasn't until both Brian Lee and Luke Richardson played themselves out of the lineup that Schubert got a chance, and he hasn't looked great. He's often caught out of position, doesn't work on the powerplay, is weak on the penalty kill, and his one real asset--his hard shot--rarely hits the net. Although his contract is reasonable, a more reliable sixth defenceman can be had for less.
2. Jason Smith, D, two years at $2.6M
   Smith started out strong, but has faded in recent games. It doesn't help playing with a different partner every night, but he often seems to be caught out of position, and is very vulnerable to faster players and the back-door play. Smith has let his physical play fade away, and needs to get that back to prove his worth. Once Smith realizes his limitations and focuses on his positional play, he could be valuable. One question: If the Sens aren't able to make the playoffs (perish the thought), is there any reason to have a playoff warrior?
3. Mike Fisher, C, five years at $4.2M
   After a very slow start, Fisher has finally passed Shean Donovan to become the Senators' fifth-highest scorer. He's still only got six points in 15 games, on pace for 26 points on the season. Not good enough, considering his salary. Fisher does have some intangibles, however, and the possibility may still exist for him to become that second-line centre the Sens pay him to be. If not, it would be difficult to deal him anyway, since he's got a no-movement clause and his trade value is probably as low as it's ever been.
4. Antoine Vermette, C/W, two years at $2.763M
   Vermette isn't producing so far this season. But not many players are. Still, he can no longer say he wasn't given an opportunity to play as a top-six forward, and he didn't produce in that role. It may simply be that he needs a different opportunity, or that he isn't as good as the flashes of brilliance he teases us with might indicate. Given his relatively low cap hit and his potential, and the fact that Florida and Vancouver are both rumoured to be interested, might make him the Sens' top trade bait right now.
5. Chris Neil, RW, this year at $1.1M
   I was all over Neil last season, and for good reason--he was terrible. This year, so far at least, Neil appears to have gone back to what was working for him (fighting), and is proving that he does still have some value to a team. The writing seemed to be on the wall when Jarkko Ruutu was signed, but the two of them have been an effective duo at getting under the opposition's skin (see: Adam Mair). Still, if there is no intention of re-signing Neil with the likes of Cody Bass and Chaz Johnson (and Jeremy Yablonski!) in Binghamton, then there is likely a market for Neil. If he wants to re-up for a little less than he's making right now, and proves he can get back to 10-15 goals this year, it might be good to keep him around.
6. Alex Picard, D, two years ay $0.8M
   Picard was a necessary return for Murray in the Andrej Meszaros trade, largely because of his purported potential. Unfortunately, he has struggled mightily at times, and that has made the times when he's looked good a little less memorable. It seems unlikely that the Senators would give up on a project player like Picard after so little time, but if a trade involving him would improve the team, then I'm certain Murray would take it.
7. Chris Kelly, C, four years at $2.125M
   Kelly is the fourth player on this list that Murray re-signed last season; it's not a good sign. Kelly's value is as a third-line defensive centre and penalty-killing specialist, but those can likely be had for less than his cap hit. Which is why it might be difficult for the Sens to find a trading partner for Kelly. He has played well given offensive opportunities, however, so he might be a flexible opportunity should the Senators need a more offensive centreman to step up.
8. Other
   Who else do you think is likely to be traded? I'm sure I'll see Jason Spezza in the comments; why do you think he's so expendable?
   

Theory proven: There's no 'D' in 'Senators'

After Friday's game, I wrote on the blog that a similarly poor defensive effort wouldn't be enough to defeat a good team, or even the Boston Bruins. I must be some kind of sorcerer, because the Sens put in the same kind of lame effort against Boston and they lost 4-2.

The strange tandem of Jason Smith and Filip Kuba again hit the ice and surrendered the first goal of the game. Those two should find new partners immediately. On the other side of the defensive coin, I found that Brian Lee and Alex Picard rarely screwed the pooch.

Chris Phillips and Anton Volchenkov have not been their normal dependable selves so far this season. I've seen Phillips struggle to keep up with opposing forwards on a couple of occasions this year. He's got a -3 rating this season and Volchenkov is a team-worst -4. Not a good sign. (Who leads the team in that category, you ask? None other than #37, M-C-Ammer at +3.)

The defenders regularly stranded Martin Gerber and did not do a good job of sweeping rebounds of of harm's way (and that's a huge part of playing D in front of Gerber!).

Nick Foligno continues to impress this season with a fantastic goal to tie the game at 1 against the Bruins. If he continues to improve, I see him adding some grit to the Senators top line in a year or two.

Five games in the season now, we've seen a totally new style Senators team when compared to late last season. However, it remains to be seen whether this will result in a better record.

Thoughts on last night's game

I went to the game last night at Scotiabank Place. Section 203, great view.

• Thought 1: Are the Coyotes that bad? The Sens gave them far too many chances to make this game interesting after leaping out to an early lead. The Senators' defensive lapses would have cost them a lot more against a better team like Detroit. That sort of effort won't produce a win tonight against Boston either.
• Thought 2: What a weird photo.
• There was some strange stuff going on for the Sens on defence last night. What was Jason Smith doing paired with Filip Kuba? Those two guys seem to be on the opposite ends of the grit and offensive capability spectrums.
  
• Apparently there's a new "thing" at Scotiabank Place. Fans now yell along with the announcer as he says the last name of the player who scored the goal. Especially fun saying "Ruutuuuuuu", not so much with the Heatley, but whatever.
• Jarkko Ruutu can score goals too?! Huh.... cool.
  
• Jason Spezza hit people last night! I noticed it at the start of the game especially. He was knocking people around!
• Martin Gerber went from facing no shots at all to making a few good saves near the end of the game. He shut my Gerber-hating mouth on a couple of occasions. Nice work.
• No more Senators theme song at games anymore. That song made me giddy with anticipation most nights. Bring it back!
• Final thought: Alfie = Jesus.

Great game, poor result

You could truly see a different team dynamic in the Senators during Saturday's 3-2 loss to Detroit. Though the Sens were missing Daniel Alfredsson's offensive ability, there were definitely not missing his leadership or penalty-killing prowess. There were many players that impressed me, and other Sens fans too, I'm sure.

In the leadership department, Jason Smith showed us why Bryan Murray went out of his way to sign the 34-year old. Smith was intimidating the opposition and making life tough for them in front of the Senators' net.

Antoine Vermette played an excellent game, skating like the wind, being crafty and smart with the puck, and even hitting people on occasion. Combined with a smart, subdued game from Chris Kelly, Vermette appeared to kill penalties with ease. Nick Foligno's outstanding goal was merely the evidence of a gritty game well played. His development over the past two seasons has been remarkable and I now consider him an asset on Ottawa's third line.

I really want to get the 'Ruu-tu Ruu-tu' chant going at Scotiabank Place this season because Jarkko Ruutu has been earning his money being the pugilist that Murray signed him to be. He's an asshole, and I think it's helping the team. When my brother asked me if Chris Neil was the goon on the Sens, I told him, "Yeah, he's a goon. But there's some goonier goons now." Remember when Chris Neil was the toughest guy on the Sens roster most nights? Those days are long gone... well, by 3 games.

Top line? Spezz and Heatley were -3 combined and had 1 point (a minor assist for Heatley on the Picard powerplay goal). Are they ineffective without Alfredsson? Yes. Very much so. Time to break those two up, Hartley. Just until Alfie comes back.

Gerber looked pretty good at times, but the critique of his game remains. A soft goal each game, poor rebound control. And correct me if I'm wrong, but I saw several points in the game where he made the save, but didn't know where the puck went in (off or though) his pads.

I'm looking forward to watching this year's Sens all season, because it's far from last year's team. If we actually want to score some goals though, pray for Alfie.

3 of 4 points in Stockholm: Sens 3 Pens 1

A great all-around effort for the Sens made it a positive weekend, and the 3-1 win over Pittsburgh gave Ottawa a very respectable 3 out of 4 possible points in Swedish premiere.

To a man, the Senators had a very good game. It was an effective shut-down system, and I have to agree with Jeremy of Black Aces in saying Craig Hartsburg deserves a lot of credit for the Sens' solid all-around good game. The way the Sens were able to shut down the Penguins, especially the powerplay, brought me back to the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs, when Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were so frustrated at their inability to generate chances. It's still very early, but there are good signs, and it's a good feeling.

First off, Alex Auld played incredibly well. He was about one second away from a shutout, and anyone who comes that close to shutting out Crosby and the gang is in pretty good shape. Ben and I were watching the game together, and beforehand he mentioned that with the Sens' goaltending luck, Auld would play the best game of his career. I'm not sure if it was his best-ever, but it definitely throws a wrench in the plans for Martin Gerber to take the starting role and run with it. But this controversy is much cleaner than last year's, because Auld has earned another opportunity to start, whereas last season Ray Emery didn't even earn a shot. Gerber may not like it, but he's made his bed. Hopefully Hartsburg can manage this situation a little better than John Paddock did last season.

Apparently giving Dany Heatley the 'A' was a tremendously good investment for Hartsburg and Co. He played out of his mind today, and not just because he scored two powerplay goals (giving him three on the season). He was hitting, blocking shots (including a really solid block at the end of the second), and just playing a good all-around game. His rounded game might be rubbing off on Jason Spezza, too, as Spezza seemed to have learned from his mistake yesterday (please, God, let him retain this lesson) and made the smart plays when they were called for. One thing that Hartsburg will have to watch out for, though, is not wearing out the big guns too early in the season. Each of Heatley, Spezza, and Daniel Alfredsson played over 21 minutes on the game, while Shean Donovan played an effective game once again, his second in a row, but was given less than three minutes of ice time. Donovan was one of the Sens' best players in the playoffs last year, and certainly has a role to play. Jesse Winchester has a solid game considering it was his third in the NHL, and made some really smart plays. I'm very excited to see what he'll be able to do once he really gels with whatever linemates he plays with--especially if that is Chris Kelly and Antoine Vermette, who might end up being the best two-way line in the league.

Defence is obviously a key part of Hartsburg's plan, and the defenders didn't disappoint. To a man they played well, and combined to block nine shots on the night. Auld looked better positionally than Gerber, and his big size means that a lot of his saves are lining up so the puck hits him (rather than acrobatics); with the defence able to clear rebounds and forwards collapsing down low, this system plays right into Auld's style. Filip Kuba got another assist (three on the year) and three blocked shots in just under 25 minutes, and looked very comfortable alongside Jason Smith (who also had a solid game). Toughness is a huge part of the Sens' d-corps this year, with all players over 200 lbs and 6', and Chris Phillips demonstrated it--along with a newfound team pride--when he ran over Maxime Talbot after Talbot ran Alfredsson. Brian Lee and Alex Picard both showed some great poise in the game, particularly when Lee deked around Crosby on the powerplay to get a shot on net.

One concern has to be the number of penalties the Senators took. Although the penalty kill was very effective, the team can't afford to take as many penalties--15 short-handed situations over the course of the weekend--and expect to continue to stay in games as well as they are. As it is, though, killing off 14 of 15 (93%) and offsetting that one blemish with one shorthanded goal is a pretty good way to start the season. And 27% on the powerplay (3-for-11) would have led the NHL last season, even if the sample size is pretty small.

So the Sens have to be very happy with three of a possible four points, even though it was very realistic to have gotten four. They fly back to Ottawa tonight, presumably to readjust to the time difference as soon as possible, and will be playing the home opener Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings. As I said earlier, it's very early, but it's good to see some solid, unified, team play.

Sens lose opener 4-3 in OT

For a first game of the year, it was alright. The Sens had some good things to take out of the 4-3 OT loss to Pittsburgh in the season opener in Stockholm, Sweden--notably one point in the standings. But it still left something to be desired.

I will begin with the most obvious: Martin Gerber had a terrible game. All four goals were stoppable, and three of them were of the very weak category--including the one off the first shot of the game. I'm sure Gerber will be the first to tell you how disappointed he was in his performance. I assumed, however, the team would go back with Darth Gerber for today's rematch, but apparently the team has elected to start Alex Auld, instead. Apparently his play wasn't the deciding factor, but it must have factored in at some point. Let the haters hate, I still think (hope?) Gerber can bounce back. At the outset of the season I predicted 35 wins or more for Gerber.

After Gerber, it was evident that Brian Lee and Alex Picard struggled at times. They are both young, and I expect nothing less than some time to adjust to the speed of the NHL game and each other's style. Filip Kuba wasn't tremendous, although he wasn't bad, but Jason Smith was just as described. He was also a pretty good passer, which isn't why he was signed but is a nice bonus. Team defence was pretty good at clearing Gerber rebounds away from danger, which is one thing that Gerber needs to be an effective goaltender--his game is supposed to be sound positional hockey, stopping the first shot so the team can clear the rebound. All he has to do now is stop the first shot.

The second-most evident shortcoming was an errant Jason Spezza dump-in that turned into the game-winning goal. It was a poor play from a player who, up to that point, had a great game. It was the same kind of mistake Spezza has been making since junior. It is something he will have to learn from, and move forward without repeating it. I don't buy the argument that asking Spezza to make the smart play when in a vulnerable position is stifling to his creativity; it's simply smart hockey.

Dean McAmmond and Shean Donovan were effective on the fourth line, and combined to score a great goal. Chris Neil had a good start to the season, drawing a penalty and showing good discipline in not retaliating. He'll have to keep that up. Nick Foligno had a solid game, but should be given an opportunity to play second-line minutes to be truly effective. And Jesse Winchester was rarely visible, but his game isn't flashy.

As much as some personal faults are to blame in this game, you've also got to chalk some up to adjustment. The team has had limited practice time, and is very different than it was last year. The season look ugly at the start, but Craig Hartsburg is implementing a new system that all parties will have to get used to.

So the rematch comes today, at 2:30, and the Sens will have an opportunity to turn this road trip around. With a win, the team will have earned 3 of a possible 4 points in a difficult road trip.